KPLU General Manager Joey Cohn announces on air that the SAVE KPLU campaign successfully raised its goal of $7 million. The independent station is now called KNKX. Its rival public radio station, KUOW, is launching a "brand awareness campaign" to boost its profile.

KPLU General Manager Joey Cohn announces on air that the SAVE KPLU campaign successfully raised its goal of $7 million. The independent station is now called KNKX. Its rival public radio station, KUOW, is

KUOW could use such a campaign. The seat-of-the-pants drive that raised $7 million — in less than six months — to save KPLU Radio (now KNKX) showed brand loyalty to Puget Sound's second public radio station.

One of the drive's most successful fundraising events saw 700 people show up to hear University of Washington climate expert Cliff Mass, whose weather segment runs at 9 a.m. on Friday mornings. Mass had been booted out of his previous gig on KUOW's Friday morning talk show.

Seattle's hippest radio station KEXP greeted the Trump presidency in bed. Hundreds gathered at the station for a "bed-in for peace," culminating in a group singalong to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance."

Media: MediaOS Video

The save-KPLU campaign was touched off by the station's pending sale to the University of Washington. The plan would have had KUOW take over all National Public Radio news programming, along with an end to local jazz and blues programming.

The "brand awareness campaign" includes a makeover of the KUOW.org website "to enhance digital story-telling." And KUOW will continue to take its Friday talkfest "Week in Review" on the road, to Renton on Aug. 16th. (KNKX has also been broadcasting reports from the road.)

"It starts with listening" comes just four months after seven KUOW employees were told without warning that they were losing their jobs. The station announced in April that it was creating seven new positions while eliminating jobs for seven existing employees.

The workers who lost their jobs were given a chance to apply for new positions, which Jennifer Strachan, chief content officer, described to employees in an email as "substantially different roles and responsibilities that the existing positions."

Hence, the "relaunching" of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, with a promise of more local coverage, comes with the same host -- Kim Malcolm -- who lost her position in the April firings.

The pre-April morning host, Emily Fox, is being replaced by Angela King.

"At a time when local newsrooms across the country are shrinking staff and reducing coverage, we are investing in our local content and programming team to continue to earn the trust of our loyal audience," Strachan said in the release.

The competition's audience has demonstrated its loyalty with dollars.

Full disclosure: A member of Joel Connelly's family works at KNKX.

SeattlePI.com columnist/blogger Joel Connelly can be reached at joelconnelly@seattlepi.com

Columnist Joel Connelly has written about politics for the P-I since 1973.